finally they're talking. today republicans meet with the president in the same room. and snatched at dawn by gunmen, the libyan prime minister kidnapped off his own doorstep, a pseudo coup or retaliation. also fire in the sky. >> exploeexplosion, shot flames 20 feet to the side. plus trapped. >> it is scary because you feel like you're about to fall backwards. >> reporter: riders on the rip tide rocket at universal studios are stuck vertically. the torch gate, the external flame extinguished four times on its way to the sochi games, russians call it a conspiracy.

you're live in the "cnn newsroom." torch gate coming. good morning, everyone. i'm carol costello. we have breaking news on the economy to start off and it's not so great news because the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits surged this week, alison kosik live from the new york stock exchange to tell us why. good morning. >> garood morning. this is catching our eye, the first hard numbers we're getting of what kind of effect that the shutdown is having on americans. now, this is a huge increase in the first time claims for unemployment benefits. they jumped 66,000 last week, a bit of perspective here, this is the biggest jump that we've seen since superstorm sandy hit a year ago, it brought the number of claims to a total of 374,000. now, of that 66,000 that put in these new claims 15,000 people, 15,000 of those claims are people directly impacted by this government shutdown.

these are people who work in the private sector, government contractors who are tied to getting their jobs to getting their paycheck. they're tied to getting their jobs with the government so these are the people who work in the private sector industries like defense that rely heavily on federal contracts and as we know things have pretty much come to a standstill there. we are going to see carol though the impact of the government workers who were furloughed, those numbers will come out next week. as for stock this morning, ahead of the opening bell ringing in 30 minutes we are expected to see the dow jump at least into the triple digits on the glimmer of hope coming from capitol hill that lawmakers may be talking. carol? >> yes, they're going to talk later on this afternoon, we're going to talk about that in a minute. alison kosik thanks so much. this less than stellar economic news as the partial government shutdown drags into its tenth day but the debt deadline keeps racing closer. one week before a potential economic disaster, a glimmer of hope. sources tell us house

republicans are working on a plan to raise the debt limit and offer a temporary reprieve to break the budget deadlock. right now on capitol hill treasury secretary jack lew is delivering his dire warnings on default. some republicans on the senate finance committee publicly doubt his doom and gloom claims, like this. >> if congress fails to meet its responsibility, it could deeply damage financial markets, the ongoing economic recovery and the jobs and savings of millions of americans. i have a responsibility to be transparent can congress and the american people about these risks and i think it would be a grave mistake to discount or dismiss them. >> cnn's brianna keilar our white house correspondent is at the white house this morning. tell us more about this gop plan to at least raise the debt limit for a short period of time. >> reporter: carol, sources on the hill tell us it would be four to six weeks extending the debt ceiling that far, but not

ending the government shutdown. you can imagine that's not something on the shutdown sternly that the white house is a fan of but president obama yesterday talking to house democrats giving the clearest indication as of yet that he would be on board with some sort of stop gap measure if republicans are. finally they're talking. house democrats met the president at the white house last night. >> we just had a very positive meeting with the president of the united states. >> president obama's message, he's open to a short term deal to increase the debt ceiling for six weeks, according to a law maker in the meeting. republicans are warming to the idea of a shorter deal followed by negotiations with the president on reducing the debt and deficit. house budget committee chairman paul ryan penned abop-ed in "the wall street journal" that did not even mention gop demands to delay or defund obama care, but tea party backed republicans still want that fight.

after a brief debt ceiling increase and are arguing against ending the government shutdown. >> i do a debt ceiling increase for six weeks so the president can negotiate with john boehner and i would keep the fighting on the continuing resolution and obama care. >> reporter: in interviews with local news stations president obama was asked to explain his own vote against raising the debt ceiling in 2006. >> i voted against a debt ceiling increase at the time because i have some concerns about what president bush was doing. >> reporter: specifically the bush tax cuts, and he argued it's okay for certain republicans to protest policies with a no vote but he said there must be a vote. >> there should never be a proposition where the speaker of the house is not willing to put those votes to the floor right now. >> reporter: congress isn't faring well in this budget fight. new gallup poll shows republicans with a 28% favorable

rate, down ten points since last month, the lowest for any party since 1992. democrats slid four points to 43%. the white house invited all house republicans to the white house for this meeting today, carol, but ultimately republican leadership pared that down to about a dozen and a half members, all in leadership or key committee chairs. they are the ones who will be coming here. they said they want to negotiate and that's really not possible to do with 200 plus members here but a white house official tells me president obama wanted to make his case to the entire republican conference and you could imagine what that potential drama would have been if he were in the same room with a lot of these tea party republicans that he blames for all of this. >> i wish that would have happened and i could be a fly on the wall. exactly. just to make this clear, they're just negotiating over a short term deal to raise the debt limit, which means after six weeks, that's thanksgiving, and we'll be right in the -- we'll be right back where we were on

thanksgiving. >> yes, that's exactly the concern that this gets pushed up towards the holidays and you know it's really interesting about that is business is very concerned about that. that's right into the retail time leading up to the holidays, a lot of uncertainty. business really doesn't want to see this get pushed into that time but right now that is what is on the table and the white house says a short term deal on the debt ceiling is much better than default. >> all right, brianna keilar, reporting live from the white house this morning. of course republicans still despise obama care but so far it's also not winning many fans among the very people it was designed to help. the long anticipated role has been plagued by website glitches obama administration knew the he risks and ignored the warnings. cnn's brian todd is in washington with that side of the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. yes, we're hearing of contentious meetings between insurance executives and the white house in the months leading up to this rollout, where warnings were issued that

the health care exchange was not ready. one computer data expert took us through his own frustrations with the system. luke chung operates a database company in northern virginia. he's an expert on heavily trafficked websites, but even he is frustrated navigating healthcare.gov. >> oh this is interesting. >> reporter: what have you got? >> i don't know what i have. i just tried to login to my account that i have already established. >> reporter: and? >> and it says "unexpected error." >> reporter: since the obama care rollout chung has been trying only to get quotes on prices, not even to enroll. error messages, slow connections, getting booted out of the system, other problems have exasperated hundreds of thousands of insured who tried to logon and we're hearing the obama administration was warned withal ahead of the rollout that the online exchange had big problems. one democratic ally of the administration, congressman robert andrews says he spoke to the white house months before the unveiling.

>> i discussed with white house people things they already knew which is an undertaking of this size is going to be very complex. >> reporter: andrews believes the white house was on top of the situation. robert leshevsky a health care consultant disagrees and says many of his clients, major insurers had contentious meetings with the administration ahead of the rollout. >> insurance executives had been warning the the administration bluntly this whole system is not ready for prime time. it wasn't going to be ready october 1 to appropriately enroll people. >> reporter: but he says the white house ignored them. >> the administration didn't seem to understand the seriousness about it. they were blase about it. continued to assure the industry there weren't going to be any problems. >> reporter: and laczewski says they were not about to delay the rollout. the white house insists it knew about the problems. >> we told you there would be glitches. >> reporter: they're not telling

us how many people enrolled, they don't know the precise numbers. luke chung says? >> this system i would hope has a database inside it that would be able to tell you everybody who is enrolled, much less the number of people who are enrolled. >> reporter: white house officials tell us it's a little more complicated than that. they have to collect those numbers from several different sources and they have to make sure those numbers are accurate so they're sticking to a plan to release the number of enrollments and other website data to once a month so they can ensure that accuracy. carol? >> so the white house isn't giving us numbers but we've done tallying of our own. what are you finding? what numbers is cnn finding? >> reporter: we have partial numbers from the state, 112,000 people in nine states and the district of columbia have created accounts on the obama care website, that means they've at least logged on to try to get information about the plan, if not fully enrolling. the first states reporting enrollments in the plan, kentucky, maryland and

washington state, have reported more than 16,700 people have enrolled in obama care so far but you can see how partial the numbers are, we're digging through state by state. >> keep digging, brian todd reporting live from washington this morning. a short-lived kidnapping leaves startling questions about security in libya. the country's prime minister is now free after being taken from a tripoli hotel by armed militia and accused of corruption. nic robertson is in tripoli to tell us more. good morning, nic. >> reporter: good morning, carol. he was taken, held for about eight hours, released, the militia that took him was a government or rather general national congress, libyan's top body of lawmakers here sanctioned militia, totally highlights here the failure of the government for it to be able to effectively for it to be effectively enforced across the

country and highlights just how powerful the militias have become. the prime minister appeared to be unharmed when he held a press conference shortly after his release. he thanked most of those involved in the situation in getting it released. he told foreigners not to worry because this was part of the political changes going on in libya at the moment. that's sort of hard to guess/believe, if you will but that's the way he would represent this after he was kidnapped which was what the government was saying here but it highlights the fragility of the situation and what government ministers have been telling us is they're concerned that the arrest over the weekend here by u.s. forces of abu al libi, suspected of being involved in the 1998 bombings of the u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania, government ministers told us they were concerned there might be repercussion frbs that and that certainly had the

prime minister's kidnapping being read here. >> nic robertson reporting live from tripoli this morning, thank you. still ahead in "the newsroom," nypd's finest? >> much of what i have described your honor including the assault captured on video and what can only be described as a wrutal and brazen attack on the driver and his family in which this defendant is an active participant. this defendant also did nothing to stop it, including not calling 911. >> reporter: an undercover cop accused in this beating and now police are looking into whether another cop was there. plus imagine being so preoccupied with your cell phone that you don't notice that guy with the gun? >> it's really mind-boggling when you see this. >> that's all ahead in "the newsroom." (music plays throughout) hey guten morgen guess who? mr. mojito? ok it's got to be really fast, i've got one second hey no way

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two men are in the hospital with burns after their balloon hit a power line and caught fire in new mexico. the balloon was flying very low just before impact. >> at that point the explosion, shot flames out, you know, about

20 feet to the side. i saw him slump. i didn't know about the condition at that point, the gondola really started to drop. >> people who live in the area rescued the pilot and passenger after the crash landing. it was the third time a balloon hit power lines or a power pole during this year's event and the other two cases the balloons managed to land safely. authorities shot and killed a gunman who opened fire at a federal building in wheeling, west virginia. the shooter was a former police officer. no word on a motive. no one was seriously hurt, and of course an investigation is ongoing. imagine being stuck on your back 140 feet in the air for more than two hours. that's what happened to about ten riders on a roller coaster at universal orlando theme park. officials say a technical glitch forced the rocket to stop. it took firefighters about two and a half hours to rescue the rest of the riders. the government shutdown

could cost a pair of hikers big money. ktnv reports two sisters were ticketed $275 apiece for hiking in red rock canyon in nevada, part of a federal park reserve closed down by the shutdown. the women say they plan to fight the fines. while there's no end in sight to the partial government shutdown a possible deal to raise the debt ceiling for about six weeks seems to be coming together. the president and republican house leaders are expected to meet later this afternoon and the president has indicated he would sign a short term deal if it has no republican provisions. but some republicans insist the fears of not raising the debt ceiling are way overblown. >> i think there's not an emergency on the debt ceiling. we are spending less than 10% of our revenue to service our debt and this alarm about default is just false. >> but the treasury department says even toying with the idea of default is dangerous.

here's what happened the last time we pushed it to the brink in august of 2011. the dow dropped more than 850 points and continued to drop for several weeks. for the first time in history, standard & poor's downgraded the united states triple "a" credit rating, consumer confidence drop, hiring among small businesses slowed. joining me is republican congressman steve king from iowa. welcome, congressman. >> thanks for having me on this morning, carol, appreciate it. >> thank you for being here. both sides agreeing to raise the debt ceiling for at least six weeks. should there be a deal? >> when i hear the president say he'll sign a debt ceiling increase as long as it doesn't have republican provisions in it i think he's trying to hold his ego together. he will be sitting down a second time in the last week or so talking to republican leadership and a select team of republican negotiators. we don't know if they'll negotiate it. might be the president again saying this is the way it shall

you but if you have any ideas i'm going to lock them out. i've told the press i won't accept a republican idea. i don't call that negotiating. i call that a stubborn position on the part of a president, we've never had a president who refused to negotiate with congress and if we accept the president's dictates to us, then the house of representatives first the article i legislative branch becomes meaningless if we're here just to ratify the president's demands. >> i'm assuming you don't think the deal is going to go through and you don't want to go through if the president attaches these conditions? >> carol, i want to say that i am serious about getting this resolved and i'm serious about addressing the entitlement spendi spending, if we have a -- entitlement spending, i would take a serious look at it. i'd rather have a balanced budget amendment as a condition to raise the debt ceiling. if we could get that done the states would ratify and we could fix this problem for all-time. we should talk about being on

point how we solve the problem for at long-term. >> let's talk about the long-term because the deal that's supposedly on the table later this afternoon only solves the problem for six weeks and around thanksgiving time we have the same argument again over this debt ceiling that many economists say, most economists say will hurt the economy. >> well, i listened to the economists talk about that and a lot of them are people that are watching wall street and wall street is always wanted to keep a lot of flowing currency, they're depend nt upon government spending to some degree. they aren't looking out for the long-term best term interests of america. they're looking at their next quarterly report and opportunities in the short term. we're worried about the long-term for our country. >> do you think they're not telling the truth when they say this will hurt the zme we're talking about goldman sachs and the ceo of coke. >> i was here in the fall of 2008 when we had this great fear of an economic meltdown and certainly it was a downward spiral.

i heard a lot of things that were said then that didn't turn out to be true. i have drilled through this with some of the best economies in the country and in the end i say to them, paint for me the sequential picture on what happens if let's say the government doesn't, if we don't rails the debt ceiling and how do we get to this calamity that you're predicting? we can't give it to me. >> just flirting with the debt ceiling the last time around i just illustrated what happened to the economy, the dow dropped more than 850 points for the first time in history standard & poor's downgraded the u.s. triple "a" credit rating. are we to ignore these things? >> we raised the debt ceiling and if my memory serves me correctly the downgrade came after that and people still blamed it on the tea party. some of this you can't win, right or wrong you can't win. >> these facts, we raised the debt ceiling the last time and that happened and it's not like our economy's roaring right now. >> well let me suggest this simple axiom of economics. if you have good credit and

spend within your means, if you spend no more than what you bring in, you will have the best credit rating and so if we demonstrate that we are going to be fiscally responsible here in congress that's going to improve our credit rating, not going to diminish it in the long run and we need to look at the long-term. >> we've already spent the money and you guys approved spending that money, and now it's time to pay your bills. that would be like me looking at my american express card and saying hmm, i really don't want to pay that right now because i think i should dplemonstrate th i'm fiscally responsible. >> you voted to spend that money really isn't true. >> who did then? >> members of congress have put automatic spending in place, $105 billion in automatic spending in obama care. i didn't vote for that. we have a whole transition of people in congress that were elected -- someone did. >> -- to stop obama care and the spending. we have a constitution that gives us the initiation of spending and revenue to the

house of representatives. that's so that we can put a check on these things and exactly what we're doing directly in line with the constitution. >> shouldn't you put a check on things by passing some sort of budget which has nothing to do with the debt ceiling. it does but they are different issues. >> they are different issues and i hear a lot of budget talk but the budget is not going to address the situation we're in right now. finally the senate passed a budget after 1,100 some days. harry reid dealt with it this way. the system is dysfunctional because the house has passed appropriation bills consistent with the budget that the house passes, we send them to the senate, 12 appropriation bills that's what it takes for a full year, we're not there yet. harry reid puts them in his desk and that gives them the leverage to try to run the government on the political leverage of a continuing resolution. that's where we are today. >> don't you think the answer is to take for the republicans to have the majority in the senate and you wouldn't have that problem. >> it would get much easier but a new president would solve the problem. >> if congress doesn't vote to

raise the debt ceiling your constituents might not get their social security checks. what do you tell your constituents about whier this 'not getting this much needed money in the case of some of the constituents to survive? what do you tell them? >> first i wouldn't accept that prediction. >> why? >> the funds are there on our normal cash flow around $240 billion a month, interest is about $18 billion a month. first thing is service the debt, go down through the priorities. the president has the authority to choose those priorities, that can be and should paying our military. >> that's not going to happen. >> he'll try to punish the american people. this is a spiteful president, carol and the american people need to understand that. trying to run a government with a spiteful president that locks our veterans out of the world war ii memorial, there's never been barricade around there before, borrowing money from the chinese to rent barricades. >> borrowing money from the chinese? >> yes, we're borrowing money from the chinese.

>> yes we're deepfully debt and if you don't raise the debt ceiling we'll be more in debt to the chinese. >> i opened it up for the chinese the other day so they can walk through there, too. the president has no controlling legal authority to lock people out but we know he's spiteful, trying to teach america a lesson. this is a president that is not trying to do with the tools he's got the best that can be done for the american people and that's becoming more evident when you see his numbers, carol. >> well, i will only say what did you expect would happen if a partial government shutdown, that nothing would be closed down, that everything that americans like would remain up and running? is that what you expected? >> whatever i dppted there's a right and there's a wrong and for a president to use sequestration to lock kids out of the white house and for a president to use the shutdown to lock veterans out of the memorials -- >> congress agreed to the shutdown. >> the president told us the secret service made the decision to keep people out of the white house. he looked at us with a straight face and said that. do you think the president could

cut back on his golf game and let some kids in the white house? he's doing this for spite and i think the american people are understanding that more clearly every day. >> republican congressman steve king of iowa, thanks so much for joining me this morning. >> thank you, carol. >> we're back in a minute. mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971. afghanistan in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

good morning, i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. an undercover detective was off duty, riding with his motorcycle club appeared in court wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. prosecutors say the cop terrorized the family of the suv driver, kicked in a door and shattered a window. cnn's susan candiotti has more for you. >> reporter: here is the undercover off-duty veteran new york detective now standing accused of assault. prosecutors described him in detail including what he was wearing as matching this video of the defendant next to the suv as it momentarily stops after running over bikers, critically injuring one. he's seen again just before the suv's driver is dragged out of his vehicle and beaten. yet to hear some tell it, these videos of suv driver alexian lien under attack aren't all

they see. >> the video will exonerate our client. >> that's the lawyer for the detective who works in police intelligence. after posting bond he leaves the courthouse in a hooded sweatshirt pulled over his face protecting his identity. he is accused of smashing the suv's rear window with his fist, also on video not made public. >> they allege that he struck the rear portion hatchback window which has a gaping hole already in it, it's already destroyed. so under the law it's a fatal flaw. you can't break what's already broken. >> reporter: prosecutors say the detective told them different stories. at first a law enforcement official says the officer implied he was working undercover, not reporting the incident for fear of blowing his cover. then the story allegedly changed again from not seeing the attack to seeing it from a distance.

>> he did nothing to stop it including not calling 911. besides not even making that phone call, the defendant failed to properly report being present for any of these events until two days later. >> reporter: his attorney didn't address those allegations during a brief press conference wednesday. source tells cnn a second off-duty officer questioned was riding with braszak but not involved in the attack and yet another civilian biker arrested wednesday night is accused of using his helmet to pound the suv driver on the ground. the suspect james cuhne turned himself in and is expected in court today. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. bell just rang on wall street. let's head there, investors are looking for a second straight day of gains. we had the not so pleasing jobless claims report come in earlier this morning, alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. the bulls are back, the second straight day of gains but strong

gains at that. you look at the dow up 145 points. breakthrough in washington means a breakthrough here on wall street, wall street has a glimmer of hope, a temporary debt deal possibly in the works, at the least that political leaders are playing nice in the sand box. the market has been trending lower the past several weeks because wall street gets it. wall street understands all the warnings we've been hearing and the latest coming this morning from treasury secretary jack lew giving dire warnings especially on the debt ceiling and rising interest rates that could result if we can't reach a solution on the debt ceiling, lew saying this morning that the stock market including investments and retirement accounts could tumble and it could become more expensive for american to buy a car, own a home, open a small business, if interest rates spike that could hike borrowing costs and cause people to spend less making the economy even weaker. carol? >> alison kosik report live from the new york stock exchange.

still to come in "the newsroom," a possible deal to avert a debt ceiling disaster appears to be in the works but it boo only save us from this headache until yes, thanksgiving. we'll be right back. at university of phoenix, we know you can't afford wrong turns on the road to your future. that's why we build tools like our career guidance system. it's kind of like gps, you know, for your career. it walks you through different degree possibilities and even lets you explore local job market conditions, helping you map a clear course from the job you want, back to you. go to phoenix.edu and get started today.

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provisions, that's what a white house official told cnn. house republican leaders in the white house will meet later today. no deal in sight to end the partial government shutdown. but some lawmakers are searching for middle ground, like moderate republican senator susan collins. she's offered this solution, reopen the government, repeal the medical device tax from obama care and give federal agencies more flexibility in the sequesters forced spending cuts. joining me republican senator susan collins of maine. good morning, senator. >> good morning. great to join you. >> nice to have you here. so there's going to be this meeting between the president and a small number of house republicans later this afternoon. do you think there will be any movement at all? >> i certainly hope so. we're at a point right now the shutdown and the looming expiration of the debt ceiling where we really need to reason together and put an end to this

impasse, and that means that both sides need to show some flexibility and avoid drawing lines in the sand. >> well, i just talked with a republican congressman who told me that he feels the president is spiteful and he won't come to any agreement with the republicans unless he gets exactly his way. do you feel that way? >> i think that it was very unfortunate that the president said that he absolutely would not negotiate with republican leaders, but the fact is he is now inviting republicans from both the house today and the senate tomorrow over to the white house so i hope that means a rethinking of his position. in the meantime, i continue to have very constructive conversations with members on both sides of the aisle, republicans and democrats alike

about the plan that i first put forth on saturday about whether or not we could add to my plan a short term extension of the debt limit that would give us more time to work on a long-term fiscal plan to deal with our unsustainable $17 trillion debt. >> the challenge for moderate republicans in the house at least is that john boehner won't introduce the bill on the floor for anyone to vote on. why do you suppose he won't do that? >> well i don't serve on the house so i can't speak to the dynamics there, but one reason that i'm working so hard with my colleagues in the senate is i believe that perhaps the senate needs to take the lead. now spending bills have to originate in the house, but we have a number of them that are sitting on the senate calendar right now that could be a vehicle for a possible

compromise and perhaps it's up to us in the senate to put together a compromise and send it back over to the house at this point. what i do know is that every day that this shutdown continues, more and more americans are being harmed, and it's not just federal employees who are being furloughed. it's disabled veterans. it's pregnant women who rely on the wic program. it's people who intended to go to our national parks. it's businesses that provide services to government and to those parks, so this is important for our economy as a whole that we get government reopened and that we avoid a crisis. >> but as you know, senator, not all, even republican senators believe that, and talking about raising the debt ceiling, there's a senate finance committee hearing going on right now, jack lew, the treasury secretary is testifying, talking about the dire consequences our

economy faces if we don't raise the debt ceiling. now, senator mike enzi, republican from wyoming, said to jack lew and i quote, "mr. secretary, i think this is the 11th time i have been through this discussion about the sky is falling and the earth will erupt. wyoming families aren't buying these arguments. they're saying you can't spend more than you take in and you definitely can't keep doing it forever and ever and ever. some republicans just don't think that anything bad will happen to the economy if the debt ceiling is raised. is not raised rather. do you agree with that? is jack lew talking doom and gloom? is he telling us the truth? >> i think that the skepticism you are hearing does not have to do with what would really happen once the debt ceiling is reached. i think there is widespread agreement that we cannot default

on our obligations. after all, this is for spending that has already occurred. the skepticism reinvolves around exactly what date would that happen because we've seen in past years the treasury say that it was going to happen on one date, and then extend that date repeatedly through manipulation of accounts or additional revenue comes in that was not expected. this is not an exact science. so when we hear the secretary of the treasury say on october 17th, we are going to be out of money and unable to meet our obligations that we'll have only $30 billion with obligations of 60 billion, there's some skepticism whether that really is the date given what we've seen before, but -- >> so is it worth gambling with that day, is it worth the gamble? >> what i think is that all of

us need to come together, do a temporary increase and then work on the underlying problems that senator enzi was correctly bringing to the secretary's attention. the administration has requested a trillion-dollar increase in the debt ceiling that would take us through next year's elections without kind of spending reforms attached, and i think most members of the republican caucus believe it would be better to have a shorter term extension of the debt limit, prevent default, but then work on real reforms. >> senator susan collins, thank you so much for talking with me this morning. i appreciate it. >> thank you, carol. still to come in "the newsroom," what would a good shutdown deal be, if it lasts just a few weeks? we'll discuss. katy perry is coming to town. can we get tickets, please???

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dare we dream in it seems the white house and republicans are on the cusp for a deal with the debt ceiling and the deal would only last six weeks while negotiations happen and the compromise doesn't do anything to end the partial shutdown of the government and the gridlock is starting to take its toll. look at this poll from the associated press and gfk. 62% mainly blame republicans for the shutdown, while about half blame president obama or the democrats. approval ratings are tanking, only 37% approve of the president's job performance. congress has hit rock bottom, they have only a 5%, 5% approval rating. joining me now, jason johnson, hln contributor and professor of political science at hiram college and patricia murphy, contributor at the daily beast

and founder of citizen jane politics. whoor the 5% that think congress is doing a good job? >> i'm worried who these people are. i think the u.s. revolution was started with higher approval ratings than this. for congress to be that low is an embarrassment. it should bring every single person to the table and what we've seen here is this group of members in the gop they drive down everybody. the president, harry reid, no one wins. >> to the growing anger out there, patricia, republicans and democrats are meeting at the white house today. >> they are meeting at the white house today which i think anybody can agree is at least some progress after both sides have said we're willing to talk but not negotiate. that doesn't really help anybody out of the situation. i think it is not wise to put too much hope into this being some sort of signal of a big breakthrough coming because we have seen even the president and john boehner over past years strike a deal, come to an agreement, walk out of the room and say we've got a deal, we're ready to go and john boehner can't get that through his own

house republican cacaucus. if there were a deal to come out of the talks that is the beginning of a difficult process. it's good news they're meeting but it's no cause for any great hope unfortunately. >> that makes me want to run from the room actually because the president has said he'll accept this deal, this temporary deal with no republican provisions. how is that negotiating, jason? >> it is in a way. there's a "new york times" article, talking about the president says the republicans want me to implement romney's platform and pretty much resign. he's not saying can we at least get the debt ceiling fixed or we don't take the economy but not for his presidency but every presidency over the next two generations if this apores to be a good negotiating tactic we'll never get it back. he's trying to fix that. >> the main issue is trust. senator collins was talking about the effects of not raising the debt ceiling. she says that republicans some

republicans are skeptical because the treasury department doesn't exactly tell them how much money it has in the bank to pay these things, and all of a sudden, when they predicted economic doom and gloom they come up with some money and that's why there's skepticism. >> there is also since 2010, we have had t.a.r.p., we've had multiple in sequestrations. and those predictions didn't come to pass. a number of republicans say we don't actually think if we go through the debt ceiling that's going to be such a bad thing. to me, that is very dangerous. because nobody knows what would happen if we go through the debt ceiling. whatever happens with the markets, economists say we cannot pay social security recipients, we cannot pay doctors for medicare. there is no question about that.

>> i just talked to a republican congressman who said i don't believe that we can't pay for people's social security. i think they're lying when they say that. >> is their calculator lying? only 50% of the budget is discretionary spending. the rest is medicare, medicaid, social security. we can't pay our bills if we don't raise the debt limit. maybe that's a risk people are willing to take. i think we'll find out next week. it's a very dangerous situation. >> let's go out on a limb and say, wow, for six weeks they're going to raise the debt limit and they're going to talk. if we take the six weeks from october 17th, that means six weeks ends at thanksgiving. you can watch the detroit lions take on the green bay packers, eat your thanksgiving day meal and watch c-span all at the same time. won't that be fun? >> that's going to be a thrill. i hope they can actually get something done. one, we would have to have meps

of congress come back. i think what's made everyone so angry, congress is flat footed in all of this. they're reading the newspaper and they're like, we didn't know it wouldn't pay for veteran's benefits. we didn't know this would happen. we're hoping they'll take time to read their own laws and come up with a solution. that's why it's so frustrating. >> this is there is a larger conversation we're not having about the debt. that's where the republicans have a good point to make. $16 trillion and no plans to make changes in entitlement spending, tax reform. those are conversations that are not happening now because of this incredibly partisan atmosphere. nobody is talking about the real issues. they're just having partisan fights and pointing fingers and that's why congress has a 5% approval rating. americans are smart enough to know none of us get paid if we don't do our job. >> we can all agree with that. thank you so much for being with

me this morning. >> thank you. all new at 10:00, people are a few feet away from a man holding a gun and they didn't even notice him. the reason? well, they had their faces buried in their cell phones, ipads, et cetera. details on the deadly consequences in our next hour. [ male announcer ] campbell's angus beef & dumplings. hearty cheeseburger. creamy thai style chicken with rice. mexican-style chicken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound good, imagine how they taste. m'm! m'm! good! imagine how they taste. hey, i notice your car yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. you shoulda taken it to midas. they tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. high-five! arg! brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling) diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day

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cinderella, at least one of them, has exited the major league playoffs. >> pirates have nothing to hang their heads b after 20 years they made it back to the playoffs. only problem is they ran into cardinals ace adam wainwright, who got it started for the cards with a two-run home run and that's all wainwright would need. he threw a complete game giving up one run. cardinals won 6-1, advance to the national league championship series to take on the dodgers. another winner-take-all game five tonight. i'm sure you'll be watching this

one. tigers/a's, to play in the alcs at 8:00 eastern on tbs. >> i'm drinking lots of beer. washington redskins owner daniel snyder is doubling down on his commitment not to change his team's name, saying he wants to preserve their heritage by keeping the name. this comes days after president obama said if he were the owner, he would consider changing the name. never, never are we going to change the redskins name. he said you can print that in all caps. >> they'll keep fighting, i'm sure. thank you, andy. next hour, cnn "newsroom" after a break. [ male announcer ] this is brad.

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thank you so much for joining me. the partial government shutdown drags into its tenth day. that debt deadline keeps racing closer. now just one week before a potential economic disaster, there is a glimmer of hope. yes, a glimmer of hope. sources tell us house republicans are working on a plan to raise the debt limit and offer a temporary reprieve to break the budget deadlock. this afternoon, that short-term plan could face its first test at the white house. republican leaders meet with the president, as strong emotions continue to ripple across washington and the world. >> warren buffett said using the threat of default to extract political payment, quote, ought to be banned as a weapon. >> i mean, it should be like -- it should be like nuclear bombs, basically too horrible to use. >> the strongest country in the world, yes, if there is some chance we do default, there could be some problems, but no nuclear war, no armageddon. that sounds terrible.

that's not going to happen. >> right now, one of the scariest things i have to deal with, the recovery and our growth potential going forward is in the hands of our elected officials in washington and i don't like feeling that way as an economist, nor as an american. >> you know, the ongoing tax revenue coming into washington is about 12 times what it takes to service our debt. the payment mechanism is separate for debt service from all other payments. the treasury secretary and the president would have to willfully choose to create a financial catastrophe. >> prolonged failure would lead to an extreme fiscal and almost surely derail the u.s. economy. but the effects of any failure to repay the debt would be felt right away, leading to potentially major disruptions in financial markets, both in the united states and abroad. >> okay. so, you heard the dire warnings about not raising the debt

limit. republican leaders are meeting behind closed doors on capitol hill to talk about this. that's where we find cnn's athena jones. good morning, athena. tell us more. >> good morning. the big question now is whether the entire republican caucus or enough support will come for this short-term plan that will raise the debt ceiling for a short period, maybe six weeks, to provide room to negotiate these larger budgetary issues. entitlement reform, tax reform, spending cuts. there's some conservative republicans who simply do not want to vote to raise the debt ceiling. the big question is whether there's going to be republican leadership to win over support for this plan. secretary jack lew testified earlier this morning -- this just ended -- before the senate finance committee to try to drive home the point, just like some of that sound we just heard now did, about what would happen if the u.s. does default on its debt, doesn't raise the debt ceiling. it looks like he's going to have a tough sell, especially with republicans on the panel. let's play a clip. i believe we have treasury

secretary lew speaking with republican senator from wyoming, mike enzi. let's listen. >> mr. secretary, i think this is the 11th time i've been through this discussion about the sky is falling and the earth will erupt. wyoming families aren't buying these arguments. they're saying, you can't spend more than you take in. and you can't -- definitely can't keep doing it forever and ever and ever. >> senator, those wyoming families know that after they've run up their credit card, they don't get to ignore t they have to pay the bill. the debt limit is just paying our bills. >> and those bills secretary lew was talking about are bills that will come due between october 17th and november 1st, bills that would pay military troops, active duty troops, medicare, medicaid payments, not just bills or payments to bond holders. a whole lot of people would be in trouble if they do not raise the debt ceiling. carol?

>> athena jones from capitol hill. later a smaller group of republican leaders will sit down with president obama and meet in the same room at the white house. brianna keilar is at the white house. what do you expect to happen? >> you know, we don't know. although, i will say it could have been even more dramatic than perhaps it will be. president obama had actually invited all house republicans, carol, here. a white house official telling me he wanted to really explain himself, wanted to make his case to all house republicans. what ended up happening, though, is that house republican leaders decided it would be a smaller group coming, paired down to about a dozen and a half members. we're talking about republican leaders and then the chairs of really relevant committees. so the tax writing committee, the budget committee. but you can imagine sort of, i think, the drama that might have ensued had president obama shared a room with all house republicans, including those sort of tea party or tea party backed republicans who he has

really targeted and blamed for this mess. >> house republicans appear to be proposing this short-term extension of the debt ceiling but want to leave the government shutdown in effect. will that fly with the white house? >> reporter: they're not happy about it, carol. but it appears that that may ultimately fly with the white house, because they've prioritized not defaulting over reopening the government, because the economic ramifications are much more significant when you don't increase the debt ceiling versus the government remaining shut down. president obama has said that he will sign a short-term extension of the debt ceiling. the issue, of course, is that it would have to be clean, as white house puts it. they don't want conditions put on it. of course, republicans are going to want some conditions. they're talking now about kind of attaching a conversation moving forward. that may be enough for them. we'll have to see, as these details are worked out and

athena is following them. it's kind of developing as we speak. hopefully, we'll get more information hearing from house republicans athey meet with president obama. they wanted to limit the group coming because they wanted to negotiate and they felt that it was sort of impossible to be negotiating with the president when you had 200 plus members in the room. >> got you. brianna keilar, reporting live from the white house this morning. you talk about reaching the debt ceiling. one of the biggest fears is not being able to pay back the countries that own america's debt. cnn's christine romans, our business guru is here to explain that side of the story. this could have serious consequences. >> it could. carol, i think it's fair to assume that the u.s. will pay its bond holders first and foremost. you just do not want to wreck your credibility among the people lending you money. let me show you first who those people are. china is our banker. this is true, china is the largest foreign lender to the united states, followed by japan and then the caribbean banking centers, offshore banking

centers, cayman islands, for example, there's $288 billion in treasuries in accounts held there. oil exporting countries, and brazil is a big foreign debt holder. it's about a third of all of our $16 trillion in debt. the rest is held basically by u.s. investors. when i say investors i mean social security trust fund, big government holdings, mutual fund companies. so when you look, the social security trust fund is the largest government holder of u.s. treasuries, $2.7 trillion. you want to pay the interest on those, because, look, that's grandma's retirement, right? invested in u.s. treasuries. civil service retirement fund has a bunch and military retirement does, too. it's a very safe investment. that's why so many people put their money into u.s. treasury bonds, because they know they're going to get paid back on time every time. that's why the u.s. is the cornerstone of the world

financial market. something that jack lew reiterated in his testimony this morning. look, we pay millions of bills a month, lots of transactions going through. the computer systems are designed to pay the interest on our debt, pay social security, pay medicare, pay government retirements, veterans benefits and the like. it's kind of a mess, the idea of paying some and not others. carol? >> christine romans, reporting live for us this morning. thank you. >> you're welcome. number of americans claiming unemployment surged the largest since superstorm sandy hit last october. it was pushed higher, in part, because of the government shutdown and a delay in claims by california after the state switched computer systems. checking other top stories at nine minutes past the hour, two men are in the hospital with burns after their hot air balloon hit a power line. it happened during a ballooning festival in new mexico.

the balloon was flying very low, just before impact. >> the explosion shot flames out about 20 feet to the side. i saw him slump. i didn't know about the condition at that point, the gomdola really started to drop. >> people who live in the area were able to rescue the pilot and passenger after the crash landing. it was the third time a balloon hit power lines or power pole during this event. the balloons managed to land safely in another event. opening fire the a federal building in wheeling, west virginia. the shooter was a former police officer. no word on a motive and no one was seriously hurt. imagine being stuck on your back 140 feet in the air for more than two hours. that's what happened to about ten riders at universal orlando theme park. a technical glitch forced the rip rocket to unexpectedly stop. most riders were able to get off but it took firefighters 2 1/2

hours to rescue the rest. >> you know how easily we get distracted by our cell phones? this story will make you stop and think. really think. san francisco d.a. says transit riders were so focused on their cell phones, they did not see another passenger wielding a gun. by the time they heard the gun go off, it was too late. cnn's kyung lah has more. >> reporter: the man looks nervous, shifting back and forth for no reason. san francisco muni car is crowded with dozens of passengers. this man is armed and about to murder someone. >> what happens next is something we can't show you. he the gunman lifts his weapon three to four times in plain view. the dozen or so other passengers on the train -- none of them notices. why? according to the prosecutor, their faces were all buried in their cell phones. it's not until the gunfire that

is people look up. shot in the back and killed, 20-year-old justin valdez, a promising san francisco state student, seemingly picked at random. he was simply heading home after classes that night. how close are these people to him? >> probably no more than two to three feet away from him. sfwlr san francisco's district attorney is disheartened that no one was paying attention. >> we're seeing people that are so disconnected with their surroundings. and we know this is not unique. we're seeing people being robbed. people are getting hurt. >> reporter: he is as aghast as people were in 1964 when kitty genovez was brutally stabbed at her apartment in new york. numerous people heard the attack but assumed others would call for help, the now famous bystander effect. people are too absorbed in their smart phones to be aware of what's happening around them. it's now commonplace to see examples of it.

a man so engrossed in his phone he doesn't see a giant bear right in front of him. or another texter, walking right into a fountain. classmates of justin valdez are feeling the impact of this behavior. >> people's stupidity and ignorance towards what's going on around them. >> there's no sign of this changing as we watch at the very train stop that valdez boarded for the last time, students were still buried in their phones. kyung lah, cnn, san francisco. >> unbelievable. still to come in the newsroom, student san franciscol say they're devastated but still cannot explain exactly why a patient's body was found in a hospital stairwell.

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♪ [ male announcer ] laura's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. in many ways it's been a war of images, world war ii veterans denied access to the memorial. grieving families not sure if they will get death benefits. families who can't feed their kids when wic benefits run out. moms and dads who can't go to

work because head start programs have been shouldered. and cuts to the programs they need because congress can't get it together. united way worldwide, the largest nonprofit in the world. good morning, stacey. >> good morning, carol. >> so, tell us, where are you seeing the biggest hits to programs? >> well, i think we can all agree that this shutdown is beginning to have devastating impacts on communities all around the country. from children to families to veterans. many of the things that you mentioned around the impact on head start programs, the impact on emergency food programs. the impact on welfare systems for families in need. child care assistance. this is hitting the most vulnerable families, most vulnerable people. people who have served this country in the hardest ways possible. if this continues -- and every day we get a little bit more and more of the story, impact on people. if this continues, we envision nothing more than very, very

serious impact on communities, on people in ways that we can't even begin to imagine. and this is our biggest concern. and one that's affecting nonprofits very directly. >> give me a real world example of it so that people can really understand. >> well, we operate a call center and work in partnership with others around a call center that's called 211. 211 is available to any american. it comes to about 90% of the country. people in crisis can call. we're already getting, in many of our 211 centers anywhere from 75 to 100 calls of more of people who are expressing concerns, anxiety. even if their benefits have not yet been cut. they're anticipating their benefits being cut, with respect to child care benefits or worry about food assistance. many people who are already food insecure are worried about where they'll get food today, tomorrow or next week in order to feed themselves and their children. people are concerned about the very basic services that they need. and they may not have available

to them. your earlier story about increase in unemployment benefits will have a ripple effect on those people being able to -- not being able to access the needed resources that they have to have in place to help themselves and their families. so, we are seeing people actually reacting to anxiety and concern and worry, because they see the impact of the government benefits. they feel it already. and they already are anticipating, in many cases, over the coming days and weeks that they may not be able to take care of themselves and their families. >> we're seeing a number of charities stepping forward to fund these government programs that were once helping people. will the united way think of doing such a thing? can it? should it? >> the united way is always, in many, many thousands of nonprofits are always working with these families and communities day in and day out. and it's been wonderful to see some very generous people step up and cover some expenses in a very tough -- during a very tough time. the point here is that the

nonprofit sector cannot replace the role of the federal government. and the role of government in helping to support programs that society has relied on and our communities have relied on for many, many years. head start, for example, emergency food assistance. these are all programs that the nonprofit sector supports and work in compliment with the government to make sure that the people have the resources and the support that they need. but we can't do it all. the nonprofit sector simply cannot take up the slack that government is leaving as a result of this shutdown. so, the longer and longer the shutdown continues, the more and more strain that puts on families and communities and certainly the nonprofit sector. >> stacey stewart, thank you so much for being with me this morning. >> thank you so much, carol. >> still to come in the newsroom, 17 days. that's how long the body of a missing patient was in a hospital stairwell before anyone found it. lynn spalding's relatives and friends are demanding answers.

ever since the federal

government lurched into a partial shutdown, crews have been traveling the country, taking the pulse of americans and asking what they think about their elected officials. in denver, colorado, this morning is anna cordova. good morning, anna. >> reporter: good morning, carol. do your job, that's what we're hearing from americans. they need paychecks. they need to pay their mortgage and are very worried about this government shutdown. this is a double punch for communities in colorado who are still dealing with the after-effects of the devastating floods. 18,000 homes, more than 1,000 businesses that were damaged or destroyed. the folks we're talking to are really hurting. we're hearing a lot of frustration. >> makes me feel angry, especially from the standpoint that they're still collecting

their checks and that so many other government workers are not. they're paid to go in and find ways to make things happen. and they obviously haven't done so in this instance. >> right now, do you understand why our leaders let this happen? >> i think there's a lot of ego. and people are unwilling to compromise on both sides. >> reporter: your message to washington? >> get off your butts and do the job you were elected to do. that simple. >> reporter: the state department of labor estimates there are now about 40,000 employees in this state that are eligible for unemployment benefits because they are furlowed or are perhaps furloughed because of the government shutdown. at this point, without knowing when the end is in sight, this could just be the tip of the iceberg as far as the impact that the folks here are feeling. carol? >> anna cabrera, many thanks.

gop says delay obama care. seems right now, computer glitches are doing that for the democrats. we'll be right back. i'm only in my 60's.

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call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. we know healthcare.gov isn't going so well. there's been a lot of technical glitches with obama care. elizabeth cohen, you've been trying to get on healthcare.gov to review insurance policies. what has your experience been is this. >> i haven't been able to get on and i've been trying since last tuesday. i couldn't log in this morning and they said oh, you have to reset your password.

they said -- the rep i talked to said everyone has to reset their password. if you had a password shall you have to reset it and everyone has to call in and do that. i said everyone with an account has to reset? they said yes. she said i'm going to try to do it for you, but i can't, so you're going to have to call back. i thought everyone? that's crazy. we called hh is, department of health and human services and they said what that representative said was an error. they said a script was sent out by mistake to representatives saying this and it shouldn't have been sent out. so, a script was sent out to representatives and they said this morning some representatives were telling people like me, hey, you've got to reset your password, when that is not the case. >> oh. >> and the bottom line is, i still can't log in. >> even though you reset your password. >> i didn't end up resetting it, because it's not necessary. but i still can't log in. >> okay.

so i guess you can call and get a live person on the phone to fix these problems, is that true? >> if, like me, you're not able to log in and you want to get insurance, you can call the 800 number they have on their site. they help you over phone and send you information by snail mail. remember snail mail? >> oh, that. >> exactly. so the process would be slower than if you could do it online. but it will work. that's what we're told. you don't have to sign up right away. you have a couple of -- several months to play with, but that people are experiencing the problems that i'm experiencing. some people have been able to log in, look at insurance policies and it's worked great for them. i know because i've heard from some of them. there are people like me, who have not been able to log in. >> we still don't know the exact number of people who have successfully logged in and successfully applied? >> right. i don't have an exact number. and what was interesting about what happened today is hhs was very clear. they're like, yep, we were going to do a change to the website that would have deleted passwords and required them to

be reset, but we decided not to do it. but the script was given to representatives anyway. so representatives were telling some people, like me, yep, you have to reset your password when, in fact, that wasn't the case. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you so much. >> thanks. today we learned that the president would sign a short-term debt ceiling deal if it does not contain republican provisions. white house officials say any deal would raise the debt ceiling for six weeks while negotiations take place but doesn't do anything to end the government shutdown. jackie spear is telling people like the house speaker, let your people go. at least 19 republicans said they would vote on such a thing. in the middle of all of this, of course, is obama care which is plagued, as you heard elizabeth say, with glitches a glitches. republicans are calling on a delay for parts of the law before funding the government. >> a one-year delay on that tax

is fair. >> democrats say it's unreasonable to ask for any changes or delays to obama care and republicans -- well, we think the obama care rollout is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt just how reasonable a delay is. >> joining us from capitol hill, democratic congresswoman jackie spear. good morning, congresswoman. >> great to be with you, carol. >> i have to ask you about these glitches in the obama care system. obviously, there are problems. maybe a delay would be a good thing? something to think about? >> well, actually, the delay would not be a good thing. there is this independent-up demand to access health insurance. so, the stl wasn't adequately prepared for the number of people, americans who would come online and want insurance. that just speaks of the interest in it. the capacity has been double, triple during the last few days. the president said to us when he

met with us yesterday that it should be up and running in a manner that can handle all of the demand that's out there within the next day or two and i think it's important to point out, you have until march to actually sign up. so, there is still a great deal of time in which to peruse the system. >> when people hear there are glitches in the system -- it's not like it's a surprise that the government had to set up these health care computer systems, right? so why are there glitches? that just tells people here again the government did something sloppy and it's not working for us. >> well, we're not -- you know, we don't have the gold standard in terms of i.t. you can look at the air force, any number of areas, government entities where we have not done incht i.t. in a very good manner. what it was framed for was like 60,000 people coming on to that site at any point in time and it was up wards of 250,000. the capacity wasn't nearly high enough. that is being fixed right now.

and it's just -- it underscores the fact that people want this insurance. they want to get these health care benefits and we're going to make sure over the next few weeks that they can access this in a very timely fashion. >> that's good because this latest poll from the associated press show that is three-fourths of the people who tried to sign up for a health care exchange reported problems. only 7% say the rollout is going well. that's just not making obama care look like such a good program. it's giving credence to what some republicans are saying. >> well, it gives credence to make sure there is an extended period of time for people to sign up. and i'm certainly willing to look at extending the time in which you enroll to beyond march. what it also says is that there is really an incredible demand for health insurance for people in this country. and we want to make sure that they can access it. that is what is being fixed right now. >> let's talk about this possible deal that republicans

and the president are going to talk about later this afternoon. despite that, some republicans aren't for the president's idea, because he said he would sign a short-term deal if there were no republican provisions attached to this deal. some in the gop says he's just being spiteful. let's listen. >> this is a spiteful president, carol. the american people need to understand that, too. trying to run a government with a spiteful president that locks veterans out of their world war ii memorial when there's never been barricades around there before. >> it sounds like both sides are as spiteful as ever. >> that's not true. everyone has to tone down the rhetoric. to use the word spiteful, to me, is not productive. we have the president who is saying i'm willing to negotiate with you. i'm willing to do a short-term continuation of the cr, short-term continuation of increasing the debt limit so it gives us the opportunity to negotiate, to come to the table

and do -- >> he's saying no republican provisions. so it's like let's extend this deal and maybe i'll still get all that i want in the long run. >> actually, what we probably are not willing to do is attach it to repealing obama care. and that is truly what the republicans are still interested in. over 40 times they have tried to link opening the government, raising the debt limit to repealing the affordable care act. what's happening, though, is that the economy is being held hostage as a result. and we saw what happened when we almost didn't lift the debt ceiling in 2011. 200,000 jobs were lost. over $600 billion were lost in the 401(k)s of americans. this is not professional. this is not responsible. and that is what we have to stay focused on. opening the government. making sure the economy is working.

creating the jobs. >> congressman jackie spear of california, thank you so much for joining me this morning. >> my pleasure. >> still to come in the newsroom, move over, boys. this one is all about women. "fortune" magazine out with its most powerful women in business. we'll tell you who is on the list. i know she is. [ sneezes, coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more sinus symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. oh what a relief it is. ♪ hooking up the country bewhelping business run ♪ gel. ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things.

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investigators in california confirm that a body found in a stairwell at san francisco general hospital is, indeed, that of missing patient lynn spalding she had been missing from her hospital room for 17 days. hospital officials say they still have no idea how her body ended up in an exterior stairwell. her friends and family are furious and want answers.

dan simons joins me from san francisco. good morning, dan. >> reporter: good morning. people who knew lynn spalding are still very much in disbelief. you can hear the anger in their voices. >> i just want to know that this would never happen to anyone else. >> reporter: raw emotion as friends of lynn spalding sharply criticize the san francisco hospital where the 57-year-old's body was found in one of the facility's outdoor stairwells, vanished nearly three weeks before from her hospital room. we now know why a frantic search that included wires and facebook page called find lynn created no credible leads. >> there are so many places around here where someone could go and hide or be be disovernighted sfwlr an embarrassed staff could provide little to answer sfwls we're here to help patients, heal them, keep them safe. this has shaken us to our core.

our staff is devastated. >> reporter: lindh spalding, the mother of two with a thick british accent, was admitted to pt hospital for a serious infection. two days later, she was nowhere to be found. 15 minutes after being checked on by a nurse. the family recalls her room on the fifth floor, highlighted by this box. the red arrow showing where her body was discovered just one floor below in a fire escape. when spalding walked through the doors, the doors would have automatically locked behind her. >> we're not here to throw anyone under the bus. we're here for answers. >> reporter: a family spokesman questioning why no one looked in that escape. >> her body was there for 17 days after dying alone in that stairwell. >> reporter: whether the family will file a lawsuit against the hospital, certainly an appropriate question to ask, but at this point the family says

it's still too early to ask those questions. after all, carol, they're just beginning to grieve. back to you. >> if she opened that emergency door, wouldn't an alarm sound? >> reporter: that's a very good question. we don't know if, in fact, an alarm sounded. one would think not. you would have had staff reacting to it. you know, sometimes those alarms don't go off. people -- we all know sometimes people go through those alarms and take smoke breaks, for instance. still a lot of unanswered questions here. we want to know just how long she was in that fire escape. >> so many questions, like weren't there security cameras that could track her or track -- i don't know. so many unanswered questions. dan simon, thanks so much. >> still to come in the "newsroom" olympic flame making its way through russia suddenly goes out four times. is the torch a dud or is it a conspiracy against russia? if you're seeing spots before your eyes, it's time for aveeno® positively radiant face moisturizer.

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because at liberty mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? stocks are rallying this morning on word that washington could be close to a short-term deal to keep the country from defaulting on its debt. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. they're not asking for much. >> no, no, no. you could call this a band-aid if this, in fact, happens, this short-term deal. it would be a deal nonetheless. for wall street, that seems to be enough. we're seeing that wave of

confidence sweep through stocks right now. the dow up 211 points after investors have been beaten down lately. they lost more than 300 points since the shutdown started. some are skeptical until a deal actually comes in. for now you're seeing a sigh of relief. this is the best bet so far, at least as wall street sees it. we are seeing investors buy in. the question, though, is if this rally will continue through the closing bell. got a long day ahead of us, carol. >> yes. i don't think the president meets with republicans until much later this afternoon. maybe it will continue. but then we have tomorrow to think about. talk about this jump in jobless claims. >> okay. so, this is interesting. we got the jobless claims numbers today. and this is really the first indicati indication, the first hard numbers that are showing, you know, what the government shutdown -- what kind of impact it has on americans. what we did find in these numbers is a huge jump in these new claims numbers, 66,000. that's a big jump. that's the biggest increase we've seen since superstorm sandy which was, what, a year

ago. most of these claims numbers are actually coming from people who are sort of backlogged from these processing problems that were happening in california. then you look at the numbers again and you see a big chunk of those claims numbers. 15,000 of them are because of layoffs of nonfederal workers. i'm talking about contractors, people who work at companies like lockheed martin. these companies have had workers who were furlowed. you're seeing just how these -- 15,000 people in one week, who have only filed for jobless claims numbers, how they're being affected. next week we'll see the numbers on government employees who were furloughed. they're counted differently. carol? >> alison kosik, thank you. torch gate, the olympic torch not so fiery in russia. the flame has gone out four times since sunday. at one point a security guard had to use a cigarette lighter to reignite it. russians are calling for a criminal investigation because,

you know, this thing isn't supposed to go out. or they could just switch torches again. the government ordered 16,000 torches for the 41,000-mile trek. the olympic flame due to arrive in sochi in february. the california teenager kidnapped approximate by a california friend, who also killed her mother and brother spoke out. she told the nbc "today" show that he used zip ties and handcuffs to hold her hostage. >> he made me play russian roulette with him, sitting on the couch. >> with a real gun? >> yeah. when it was my turn, i started crying and was like freaking out. and he said, do you want to play? and i said no. and i started crying. and then he was like, okay. and he stopped. >> asked about dimagio, who was killed in idaho, she says she feels ask disgusted, shocked,

sick and angry. former mayor of new york -- convicted in march on two dozen federal charges, have been in custody since then. the judge ruled him a flight risk. stick around to find out who took the top spot. the recent increase in cafeteria prices is not cool. when you vote for flo, we'll have discounts. ice-cream discounts. multi-cookie discounts. pizza loyalty discounts! [ kids chanting "flo!" ] i also have some great ideas on car insurance. [ silence ] finding you discounts since back in the day. call or click today. i like her.

fortune magazine is releasing its annual list of the top 50 most powerful women list. the ceo of facebook. ibmceo came in cheryl saand gin rometty and pepsi indra nooyi. >> ibm is 102 years old. it's the largest technology company by market capitalize in the united states. it's truly a global company. and there's really no other female ceo sitting on top of a perch quite this big.

and the way that we measure power for the fortune's most powerful women's list is the size and scope of the woman's business, the arc of her career, her social significance. and the direction and health of the business. and one of the things that's so interesting about ginny rometty, she's not standing still. she's looking for the next big thing. there's no question that she is the most powerful woman in the country, measured by those criteria. >> fortune magazine has been putting together this list for years and years and years. is it getting easier? are there more women at the very top to choose from these days? >> absolutely. when we started doing the list, we had 5 out of 50 women who were ceos of public companies. this year the list contains 20 women who are ceos of stand-alone public companies. the number of women we have to choose from is much greater. in some ways that doesn't make it easier, though. you know, we are always trying

to find new, fresh faces to put on the list. and there are always women who are doing amazing and interesting things that, you know, we try to take account for in our list. so, marisa meyers, executing a turnaround, becoming ceo while she was pregnant, that is incredible social significance. >> you're not kidding. i was interested in cheryl sandberg. why was she number five? why wasn't she higher? >> we look at the size of the woman's business. sheryl is chief operating officer. she has a huge palette of responsibilities, the ceo is mark zuckerberg. she's his number two, an important number two. some people would argue why is she so high because her role is not that of chief executive

officer. again, in terms of having a tremendous year and tremendous impact, best selling novel -- excuse me, best selling book, "lean in," she has continued ton an influential woman. young women ask me everywhere, what do i think of "lean in." have i met sheryl sandberg? she has elevated her position beyond that of the world of business. >> stephanie mehta, editor for fortune magazine, thank you for being here this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> thank you for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "legal view" with ashleigh banfie banfield, after a break. does your dog food have? 18 percent? 20? new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learn more at purinaone.com (dad) just feather it out. (son) ok. feather it out. (dad) all right. that's ok. (dad) put it in second, put it in second.

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